This invention relates in general to the construction of conveyors and in particular to a new and useful scraper chain conveyor for use in mining and to a construction for holding the sections of the conveyor together.
In a prior art conveyor trough section connection the connecting bolts are designed as flat hammerhead bolts. The bolt receivers provided in the side walls of the trough have substantially the same cross section as the connecting bolts, and the access slot for inserting the bolt is wide enough to let pass the broad side of the bolt shank and thus to permit the insertion in any position. Consequently, the bolts inserted in the receivers may occupy any position. To fix this position, bores in the bolts and securing pins passing therethrough are provided by which the bolts are arrested in a V recess from the outside of the trough. This V recess further accommodates welded retaining elements which become engaged from below by the bolt heads. This prior art design has several drawbacks. The hammerhead bolts cannot take up the extreme loads resulting form the horizontally and vertically angled positions of the trough sections relative to each other. There is no reasonable backing up of the bolt heads which extend at the outside. An oversizing of the bolt shanks might be provided, however, then the acting forces may damage the retaining elements. Further, the securing of the connecting bolts is quite unsatisfactory, since the fixing pins or screws may be sheared or pressed off. The non-secured bolts might then easily fall out.
There is also a risk that under the loads resulting from the vertical and horizontal angling of the trough sections, the bolts may simply be pushed out.